September 24, 2025 • 43 mins
Today on The Breakfast Club, Keisha Lance Bottoms Talks Running For Governor Of Georgia, Black Leadership, Kamala Harris. Listen For More!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Don't every day up waiting, click your ass up the
breakfast club finish for y'all.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Gum.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Yes, it's the world most dangerous waning to show to
Breakfast Club. CHARLAMAGNEA God, DJ NV, just hilarious, Envy and
just are gone. But ll Kuba Lauren Lrosa is here
and we got Testling figure O sitting in because we
have a very special guest, the former mayor of Atlanta,
and she's running for governor Georgia.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Miss Keisha Lance Bottoms is here.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Good morning, good morning, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Thank you for coming. How do you feel?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
I feel great. It's great to be here. It's I
had a fundbraiser in New York and great to see
you in person.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Absolutely What move made you want to run for governor
Georgia in these crazy times?
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yeah, we we are living. It's like in the twilight
zone right now. So I woke up the day after
the election in November, like so many people, wondering what
it meant for me personally and just for us as
a nation, for Georgia as a state. And I did
a lot of praying, a lot of talking, and then
some more praying, and I decided in season to get
(01:00):
back in the ring. We need strong leadership, and people
are looking to states and to local governments to stand
in the gap because we've got so much craziness and
chaos coming out of DC right now.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
You know, Stacey Abrams ran for governor twice and she
fell short even with massive national attention. What would you
do differently so Georgia, you know, it doesn't be like
oh another almost yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Well, you know, Charlemagne, one of the first national interviews
I did was when I was a candidate for mayor
and you had me on and we did it the
old fashioned way. You go knock on doors, you call people.
Now we've got TikTok and all these other ways that
you have to communicate with people sitting here. I mean,
your audience is massive. We have to cover it all.
(01:47):
And what you do. You look at every election, from
Stacy's elections to the VP being on the ballot in November.
You take what work, you keep it, and then what
didn't work as well, then you fix. And the reality
is this, You know, there is a reason that Georgia
(02:08):
went blue in nineteen and twenty. We've got two state
senators who are two senators from Georgia who are Democrats.
So it's possible. It just hasn't happened yet, but it's
certainly possible.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
You know, a lot of critics say Democrats in Georgia
can't win statewide unless they run more moderate, like would
you play to the center or lean fully into like progressive.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Well, you know, my mom always says, you don't have
to tell the truth once, and the truth the truth is.
I mean, I am a moderate there, you know, you
just standing your truth and what you believe in. And
I believe that there are some policies that work from
the left. There are some policies that may be more conservative,
(02:50):
but at the end of the day, it's about getting
things done. And when I served as mayor, we got
a lot of things done, from adding and preserving seven
thousand units of affordable housing, to get in our city
workers up to a minimum wage of fifteen dollars an
hour because in Georgia it's just over five dollars an
(03:11):
hour to I mean, I can give an entire list
of things that we were able to accomplish, but it
was standing in our truth and what our values were.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
I'm glad you brought that up because you were known
in Atlanta for real standing up for people against the
predatory lending and how the home buyers were getting things
taken and things like that. The homeowners. Can you speak
a little bit about that, well.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Affordable housing was a big push from our administration. And
it's not just an issue in urban areas. It's happening
in rural communities as well. We've been traveling around the state.
It's happening around the country, and you all know it's
people are paying attention to the mayor's race in New York.
Affordability is an issue. So we did focus not just
on affordable housing, but also helping the unbanked. We had
(03:57):
programs that would help people who were under their bank
or couldn't go to traditional institutions to even cash their
checks at the end of the work week, making sure
that we could help build up their credit, making sure
that they had a relationship with the bank. We were
able to do that through the US Conference and mayors.
Financial literacy is so important, whether it's from helping somebody
(04:22):
get a down payment on their first home to helping
to create credit that allows them to even think about
getting their first home. So it's like the approach is layered.
We know that there are a multitude of challenges that
people are facing, but government can and should help address
(04:44):
some of those and sometimes it's in conjunction with the
private sector.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
I want to ask you, forty nine women have been
elected as governor and not one has been a black woman.
When you talk about what hasn't worked and what didn't work,
what are some some of the challenges that you see
that all though successful in Atlanta, which is the black mecca,
how will you, I guess galvanized when you look at
(05:09):
Georgia as a state, which is very different than Atlanta
being I would say it's own, you know, own state
by itself. How are you going to you know, reach
out to those communities that are not interested, you know,
in electing and not just a woman of color of
specifically a black woman. How do you how do you
plan on dealing with those challenges?
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Well, the reality is this, we've never had a woman
an elected governor in Georgia either, and it is about
meeting people where they are. So we've been traveling around
the state. Atlanta is a great place, but I can't
rely just on Atlanta. If I did, if any candidate did,
we wouldn't win. So we've been making Warner Robbins Augusta
(05:48):
will be in Auburny next week. We have been to Savannah,
Chatham County. We're moving around the state talking directly to people.
So I've got this whole list of issues that i
want to focus on. Eliminating state income taxes for our teachers,
we got to teach a shortage, expanding medicaid in our state.
We've got nine rural hospitals who have closed. We have
(06:11):
half our counties who don't have obgyns, don't have pediatricians,
more deaths than births in more than half our counties
in the state. That's unacceptable. So we're moving around talking
to people. I've got my list of issues, but as
I'm hearing from people, I'm adding to that list. And
(06:34):
it's about reaching everybody, black women, black men, brown people,
white people. It's about listening and being willing to course
correct when necessary.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
You know, Republicans in Georgia don't play fedal. You got
voter suppression. Jerry Manderain couturewards like, do you think you
can really outstrategize that you feel like you like kind
of walking into a trap.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
No, We've done it before. I mean, and I know
you all are paying attention to what's happening in Georgia.
Five hundred thousand people have been removed from our voter roles.
There are hearings happening right now in the state where
they're trying to reduce early voting and remove absentee voting.
In this whole list, and when you look at a
place like Georgia where the margins are so thin, it matters.
(07:19):
So you mentioned Stacy Stacy's first race fifty five thousand votes.
She lost by the vice president one hundred thousand votes.
That's not a lot when you have millions of people
showing up to vote. So again, what we got to
do is keep talking to people, get them energized. Listen, listen, listen.
(07:40):
I've got four children, three are teenagers, one is twenty three.
I got to stop clutching my pearls when they say
things I don't agree with, because it's their reality. And
as candidates, it's great that we go up on television
and do all these fancy things. We got to go
into the barbershops, the beauty shops. We got to listen
(08:02):
to people.
Speaker 5 (08:03):
And then act accordingly in the beginning of the interview
of Charlie may ask you like, why now in these
crazy times that I'm hearing you talk about like going
out and doing things. And the first thing I thought of,
especially with you being the first if elected, was uh
Kamala Harris's book, and she talked about, you know, just
a lot of the struggles she went through because as
a black woman, they weren't they didn't know that. Not
only did they not know what to do, it wasn't
built for her, but they didn't support and she dealt
(08:24):
with a lot behind the scenes. I know you you
worked with the Bidy campaign.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
What did you.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Experience then, if I if at all anything that is
preparing you for what you're potentially about to walk into
as first woman black woman governor.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Yeah, I worked in White House, and you can't work
in the White House and sit in that senior meeting
every morning just a few steps from the Oval office
and not be a better leader. You see how things
get done, and it is challenging anytime that you are
the first in the room, but it's also this opportunity.
I would always chuckle to myself when the President would say, Keisha,
(08:59):
what do you think? And I would think. I bet
nobody's ever been asked in the old office, So you know,
they're challenges, but there are also a lot of opportunities
there and a lot of times when we are the first,
it's hardest for us in those spaces, but you're opening
(09:20):
doors so that hopefully you won't be the last and
it won't be as difficult as people coming behind you.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
How do you.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Navigate supporting the president like Biden while still being honest
about what he could have done better and he could
have done better for black communities, because I'm all record
is seeing the now of the Democratic Party and the
future of the Democratic Party, you got to throw that
old regime under the bus. And the VP does a
great job of doing that in her new book.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
I don't know if you read it yet, but no,
I haven't read it yet. But you know, there were
a lot of great things that happened from the Biden
Harris administration that delivered for our communities, and I think
unfortunately right now, just a couple of days ago, I
was speaking with someone about black farmers on all the
strides that had been made in our rural community specifically
(10:05):
to support black farmers. Trump administration's already clawed it back.
So there were a lot of things that were done well,
and I'm very proud of that. Hindsight is always twenty twenty.
You think about things that perhaps could have been done differently,
But at the end of the day, that administration delivered
a lot of wins for our communities. And now we
(10:29):
got to look forward and figure out how do we
keep going, how do we keep building, how do we
keep moving? Even when I talk to you, when I
was running for mayor several years ago, Instagram was this
new thing, this new communications tool that we were using.
We're light years away from that. And if we are stagnant,
(10:51):
then we're not going to progress as a party. But
what I know is this, this democracy that we live
in for now to work and progress, and we've got
to be nimble the Republican Party, you know, I compare
these maga Republicans a broken clock is right twice a day.
(11:11):
They've hit it on messaging, and they've hit it on
the long game, and I think we can learn some
lessons in that.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I guess that's it for me.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Right like Democrats, you know, Democrats couldn't message when they
were winning, right at least on a federal level. So
now that they're losing, what can the party message the people?
And I know, I know it's just a state race,
but you're still representing the Democratic Party.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
So what is the message now?
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Well, I think Charlotte Mane like, we'll be looking at
you all to help us with that too, Like how
do people get their messaging? How do we communicate with people?
We perfected political messaging and ads and all these things
that we've done for decades on end. What we've not
perfected is and I'll just go back to this example.
(11:56):
I remember my now fifteen year old son was like
looking at some NBA something or another on television and
I heard Trump's voice coming through. I'm like, what is
Donald Trump? Like what are you watching? And he's like,
oh yeah, he's on here all the time because he
was talking to our kids when we were still on
(12:16):
cable TV. So I think it's going to take all
of us. It's going to take us thinking differently. You know,
the way that we've traditionally done politics clearly doesn't always work.
It's not always effective. You can still be principled, but
you can still be willing to learn something new. And
(12:40):
that's a challenge. And for me again, I'm listening when
I go into barbershop with my kids. I'm listening when
my son tells me, you know what he did two
three years before the election, we had a problem with
young black men. I'm like no, poland saying x y Z.
(13:01):
He's like, no, y'all got a problem. So I'm learning.
I'm learning to listen.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
You know, you know Keisha a black mother.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
From the start, she said, my son was watching some
NBA something something something.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
I won't go back to when you said a part
of it is leaning on us, And I want to
talk about pressure that a lot of us we put
on you know Democrats as well. I know Charldamain's taking
a lot of heat for it. I've certainly talking a
lot of heat. I want to go back to what
you said about the black farmers. And so, although the
Biden administration did deliver, still pressure had to be put
on the Biden administration to do the right thing. In
(13:35):
twenty twenty two, turning Bedroom Crump pat two foul a
lawsuit against President Biden. So I think it's fair to
say that, yes, the Biden administration delivered. Yes, they certainly
did more than what a previous administration would do or
perhaps what another administration would do. But he also, because
I remember, was he was very conflicted about having to
do that. And so how do we be honest enough
(13:57):
for people to say that, yes, we are putting pressure
on possibly your favorite president or whoever you may like,
in order to get things done. And how can we
be honest about that when we're, you know, doing our
advocacy in the media. Basically, can you respect that that
I may have to say this, ain't it y'all not
doing the right thing because it's traditionally business, well you're
(14:18):
helping Trump or you're helping other side, when that's not it.
We're trying to just actually help the black farmers.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Yeah, And what I'll say is this is we can't
let perfection get in the way of us participating. I'm
not saying that Biden Harris administration was perfect. Clearly it
wasn't perfect. But I'll put the worst day of the
Biden Harris administration up against this Trump administration any day
of the week, because at least I knew we had
(14:45):
a chance. And again, elections are about looking forward. We
want to make sure that when we elect people that
we have a chance to have us see at the table.
I've been inside the White House, so I know he
gets to walk through the door and have those hard conversations.
(15:05):
Sometimes you agree, sometimes you disagree. But as we look
to twenty twenty six, we got to think about do
we want to have a chance again? Do we want
to have a fighting chance? And my concern right now
is at the rate that we are going and the
way our democracy is being unraveled, literally hour by hour,
(15:27):
that if we surrender our right to participate, we're not
gonna have anything to participate in. John Lewis was my congressman.
He represented my district, and I'm often reminded of his words.
Our vote is the most powerful weapon that we have
in a democracy. If we don't use it, we will
(15:50):
lose it. I get that people are frustrated, and people
are choosing the couch. They're not choosing Democrats, they're not
choosing Republicans. They're just disgusted. I ain't going for none
of y'all. And that is the worst thing that we
can do, is to give up and not be a
part of the conversation and not be counted. So no,
(16:13):
no administration gets it all right. The Obama administration didn't
get it all right. The Clinton administration didn't get it
all right, but we at least had a chance to
try again. I don't see that with this Trump administration.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
You know, one thing you did when you was mayor,
you gave raisers for police officers and firefighters and always say,
I feel like, you know, more money should go in
police officers pockets. Right, I feel like, you know, if
you have a higher salary for police officers, you'll get
a higher quality of a person for the job.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Right. Why did you decide to do that.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
We had a retention issue. We were really struggling, and
we were Our officers were leaving, they were coming to
get trained in Atlanta, they were leaving to go to
other surrounding metro area cities and counties because we were
not on par not just locally but nationally as well.
(17:09):
Our firefighters hadn't gotten their money, their appropriate raises in
fifty years. And at the end of the day, it's
you know, whatever your position is on police officers or
public safety in general, you know, it's not just about
calling somebody when there's a crime, When you have a
car accident, when somebody breaks in your car, you got
(17:32):
to have somebody who can come and investigate and then
be able to go show up in court and testify
and do all those things. So it was important, and
you know it was. I didn't get the support of
police officers or firefighters when I ran, but I thought
that it was the right thing to do and it
was the right thing to do for our city.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Did they give you credit after the fake they did?
Speaker 5 (17:55):
They did some of your kids. I know you got
four kids, your wife and some of your kids are older.
I heard you say something help you with like social
media stuff like that, Like how do you balance because
what you do in politics is very demanding. How you
balance It's like life outside of that.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
With everything else that balance for a lot of people.
Yeah yeah, I mean, you know, thankfully, I have an
incredible family that sacrifices more than anybody could possibly understand.
And my therapist said something to me that I keep
in my heart a lot. She said, you were a
(18:32):
strong mayor. I want you to be a powerful governor.
Strong women push through. They have heart attacks, they have strokes,
and they die. She said, powerful women stop, they learned
a lesson and then then only then do they move on.
So for me, it's about balance. So if I have
(18:52):
to if I have to stop what I'm doing and
be balanced when it comes to the needs of my
kids or my family, my husband, that's what I have
to do because that's power. Because when I'm out of sync,
my family's out of sync, my community is out of sync.
So I'm I'm focused on being powerful as a mother,
(19:17):
as a wife, and as a leader, and balance is hard,
but it's a choice.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
It means you think women get that grace though, because
you don't really hear men saying I'm gonna be balanced,
I'm gonna be a mother. Do you think that's why
people have a problem women leader? Yeah, exactly, Like they
don't want a leader that's gonna be balanced. They want
completely off balance and totally focused the inn on that.
So I mean, do you think that plays a part
and why? Yeah, I don't want women leadership.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Life isn't fair. People are gonna always take exception to
what you choose and how you choose. But for me,
I know that I'm a more powerful leader when I'm
balanced than when I take the time to take a
walk or when I take the time to do something
like listen to a book. It makes me stronger, and
it makes me more focus. It makes me a better mother,
(20:09):
makes me a better wife, it makes me a better leader,
and a lot of times, you know, whatever your profession is,
we often don't find that balance and we don't choose
it for ourselves. So we go. You know, I was
strong and I pushed through and then we pass out
somewhere because we've been pushing through, and power is saying
(20:32):
sometimes I got to put me first. You know, we
often hear this metaphor when you're on the plane, you
got to put your oxygen mask on first. Well, that's true,
because if I'm not right, nobody is right in my house.
Speaker 5 (20:48):
What are your therapy as much as you want to share,
what are your therapy sessions? Like, how do you separate
Keisha land Spottoms as the person, the mom, the wife
versus I'm coming here because my job in politics are
putting me in a bad mental space?
Speaker 3 (21:02):
Or do they all come together in therapy? It all
comes together. I love therapy. It's wonderful too. I highly
recommend it too, you know, because you get to unpack
all these things. You know, we live our lives and
we think they're like these segmented spaces in our lives.
But through therapy, what I have found is it's all related.
(21:23):
You bring all that childhood stuff with you, the good,
the bad, the ugly. It comes with you into adulthood,
it comes with you into marriage, it comes with you
into parenthood. Like you bring it all in. If you
don't understand it, sometimes it just doesn't make sense. And
the thing I love about therapy is that it's somebody
(21:45):
who It's not like you're arguing with your spouse, like
you're not taking a position. It's somebody who's neutral and
who's helping you unpack it. My therapist can talk to
me for ten minutes about something I've been talking to
my husband about for ten years, and I'm like, oh, okay,
I understand that. I get it because it's this neutral
(22:07):
person who's trained to help you process and unpack. And
quite frankly, given all of the challenges we're having with
mental health, especially in the black community, like I'm really
proud to speak about it publicly because it is taboo,
and we know people are dealing with PTSD, anxiety, depression
(22:27):
and all these things that we often don't identify or
that we even call a weakness. Sometimes in the black community.
But it's just like if you had high blood pressure diabetes,
we say you need to go see a doctor. Well,
it's the same thing with mental health. If you're struggling,
sometimes you got to go talk to somebody who's a
(22:48):
trained professional who can help you unpack and process.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
You know, you talked about a servant leadership a lot, right, Like,
is it possible for a politician to actually be a
publicier because I always see a lot of people who
were servant leaders right, they were public services, but boy,
when they get into politics, they you know, compromise themselves
real quick.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
Well, one I say, I don't think people, I don't
think you should be a broke politician because you know,
and sometimes people don't have the choice in terms of
their income. But I've seen that sometimes that can be
challenging for people that if you know, you're signing a
stack of contracts like this worth one hundred hundreds of
(23:33):
millions of dollars, for some people, it can't be tempting
to kind of, you know, not be honest brokers out
of necessity or whatever the reasons. I would say, you know,
for a lot of people, we want everybody at the table.
We want representation of a cross section of people. But
what I tell people, especially younger politicians, is you can
(23:57):
have a life after politics. So even if you go
in and your income is not great and you're looking
at these contracts you're signing for people getting millions of
dollars in contracts, then plan for your future. Don't touch
it now, Just plan for your future because at the
end of the day, you're there to serve and you're
(24:18):
there to stay free. And for black politicians especially, we
are often targets and unfortunately sometimes you know it's we
make it too easy to get in trouble.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
So basically, do right by the people when you in
office and get that money. Once you get don do
right by the people.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
The best political advice I got was from a friend
of mine who said, whatever you do, make sure you
can always go home. And what he meant by that
was like when I walk in the grocery store, I'm
not afraid. I can hold my head up high. People
may not agree with me, but I can defend anything
(24:58):
I've done, any decision I've ever made, even if it's
as much as saying I made a mistake, I do
it differently, but I can see I still live in
the same house, same community, I shop in the same store,
like all the things are still the same because when
I left off as I was able to go back home.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
I want to ask your thoughts on because I'll be
honest with you. I'm an independent, I used to be
a Democrat, and I'm gonna be honest the messaging on, well,
at least we have a chance. That don't really land
with me, Like I want the straight you know, we
going in we are taking whatever we can get, which
I get, you know, and I understand your point. But
I'm loving the energy that Governor Newsom is on right now,
(25:40):
and he's been inspiring to a lot of a lot
of people may not agree with his politics. I think
everybody has a role to play politics. Your personality, your personality,
his is his. Do you see him being helpful over
because I know you're running for governor, but the Democrat
Party as a whole bringing the smoke. What have been
your thoughts on him being able to play that at
(26:00):
offense defense, you know, to kind of say things that
maybe other politicians cannot, or to kind of run that play.
How have you been have you been received, have you
been clutching your pearls.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
I love it. I mean, and that's his personality. So
I love it, I think, and people are looking for
people who are authentic and genuine in their leadership. That's
his style, and I mean, I'm here for it. And
what I would say, you know, even with you identifying
as an independent, the respect that I have for that
is that we can't take anybody for granted. And what
(26:36):
I'm saying in this season, people are so much more informed.
And I'm a Delta. I did something with a group
of Deltas and when I tell you, they asked me
the hardest questions of any group that I've been around,
you know, and I was like, wow, okay, and they
were there in support of me, but they want to
(26:58):
like so you know, I'm not taking anybody for granted.
We shouldn't take anybody for granted. I think at the
end of the day, you know, a lot of people
are more not Democrat, not Republican, and more in the
middle than even we self identify as. But going back
(27:21):
to Gavin Newsome, I love what he's doing. I love
that he's owning it. I think that he is brilliant.
I love that it is authentic to him. And I
love that he is meeting the moment. I think the
biggest danger for any of us would be to engage
in ways is that that's not authentic to us because
(27:43):
people see it, and you know, people have a high
BS radar, and if it's not real, people are going
to pick up on that too. It's real for him.
Speaker 5 (27:53):
What if your thoughts been around your safety going back
into office like I.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Know you had, Like you got your security.
Speaker 5 (28:00):
Dind it for some time because the death threat you're
receiving and Trump's in office, and you guys had your
back and forth with the whole resignation thing, where you're thought,
it's just a crazy time. What are your thoughts around that?
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (28:10):
I mean as a person of the faith, I plead
the blood of Jesus over me and my family because
it's real. When I was mayor, I had a lot
of credible threats, including a credible kidnapping threat. I remember
going for a walk one day and a man pulling
(28:31):
up on me saying, Oh, I didn't think it was
gonna be this easy to find you. Thankfully he didn't
mean me harm, but he did find me out walking
by myself. So I'm constantly.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Wow I mean I understand you, you know, enjoy your freedom,
you got faith in God, but why would you.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Be walking by yourself? You still got to protect yourself.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Probably not not the smartest thing to do, but you know,
I left out my door. I went for a walk,
and I didn't think, you know, this man was gonna
drive over from De Camp County and look for me
that day. Now it was it smart, no, but I
mean that was I wanted to walk by myself that day.
And so back in this season, I am mindful of it.
(29:17):
I'm I'm cognizant of it. Anytime I'm speaking before a group,
I find I like I'm looking around, paying attention to
who's moving, who's you know, where's the exit? You know,
layering on security. I mean, it's just it's it's the
nature of the times that we're living, man, and it's, uh,
(29:41):
it is unsettling, but it's our reality.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Do you think that there's an attack on black mars.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
I think there's an attack on black leadership across the board.
I think the attack on black mayors is like, that's
a generational you know, even Ambassador Young was called before
a grand jewelry, you know, so it's yeah, I mean,
(30:14):
I think that's real.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Why do like, why is it why black?
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Why does black mayor leadership get targeted that in that way?
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Well, I mean, so I'll give Atlanta as an example.
The mayor of Atlanta is the CEO of the city.
It's a strong mayor form of government, with over a
billion dollar budget between the airport, the warder department, and
the city's general fund budget actually probably closer to billion dollars.
(30:43):
That's a lot of money and a lot of contracts
that you're signing. So even in Georgia and in Atlanta,
the guy who's the front runner on the Republican side
for governor put forth legislation to take the airport from
the City of Atlanta, to take it, to take it
over because the city runs the airport, because their contracts there.
(31:09):
Some would say it had a large part to do
within helping to build a black middle class in Atlanta.
So anytime you have money involved and you have a
singular black leader who can sign those contracts, who cannot
sign those contracts, it's going to get attention, it's going
(31:32):
to get scrutiny, and it's gonna make you susceptible to investigation.
It's not fair, but that was happening when Maynard Jackson
was the mayor of Atlanta. It happened to Ambassador Young,
I mean it, it happens.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
So basically saying that's where the powers I'm always talking
about local and state. Local and state, that's where the
power is. That's where things get done the most, the
quick as the fastest. And you're saying that the local level,
the mayor's is targeted because of the power that they have.
Talk about a little bit about the governor, because we
love the sex you know how sexity is. Talk about
Congress and president, all of that, but talk about the
(32:08):
power that a governor has that can literally change somebody's
life overnight, opposed to being in Congress where you have
to argue with hundreds of people.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
So when federal money, for example, comes into a state,
it often flows right through the state government through the
governor's office. Governor can determine budgets. The governor can determine
how much we're allocating toward this community as opposed to
that community. The governor of Georgia is one of the
(32:38):
most powerful governors in the nation because they have the
power of a line item veto. So when legislation comes
to the governor. He can scratch out a line and
change it just with the or she will be able
to change it just with the stroke of a pen.
So it matters. You are allocating budget, you are setting priorities,
(33:02):
you are appointing people to boards, whether it's the border
Regions which oversees higher education than the state, to the
Port of Savannah that deals with export and import that's
coming in and out of the state, to infrastructure projects,
to public safety. All of that flows from the governor's office.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
What do you think about People are in Atlanta are
very critical of Copcity.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
How would you address that?
Speaker 3 (33:31):
My concern about that is that when you are not
investing in public safety, that you are getting out what
you are putting in. So with the police training facility,
there were two places that firefighters who were being trained
police were being trained. The place that firefighters were being
(33:55):
trained ended up being condemned because of mold of bad
mone infestation. The place where police were being trained was
like a fifty year old school building. The facilities were
just they were awful, and I believe the prior police
training place was condemned as well. They were awful. I
(34:16):
mean the reality is that they have to be trained somewhere,
and we needed a new facility in Atlanta to train
our police and firefighters, and it was costing us a
lot of money because we didn't have a state of
the art facility. And again going into the morale and
(34:38):
whatever your thoughts are again on public safety. When you
have police officers, when you have firefighters, when you have
people ems, paramedics, they have to be trained somewhere. They
don't just show up and get put out on the street.
And we needed a new facility in Atlanta to do that.
Speaker 4 (35:01):
One of the things I give you credit on I
still like to call you mayor Lands Bottoms of your Mindy,
it's through your title you building in non traditional, non
traditional coalitions. A lot of times people just tap into
hip hop and tap in who they think is cool
for the moment. You've done an excellent job of building relationships,
you know, with Tip and Killer Mike and really understanding
(35:23):
how entertainment and hip hop is a part of Atlanta
culture culture.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
How do you.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Plan on still, you know, building those non traditional coalitions
and how they can benefit you through the State of
Georgia Because a lot of times, like you said, people
just do the hot sauce in my bag, you know,
to say, you know, I'm cool for the moment. You've
really built some authentic relationships. How were you able to
do that and how do you see that benefiting you
in your race?
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Because you got to hear from everybody. And I love Tip,
I love Carolling Mike. Those are my brothers, genuinely, and
I know they bring a voice and a persona that
I'm not gonna always hear in a board room. But
by the same token, I have to build relationships or
have had to build relationships with CEOs. Where there's a
CEO of Delta Airlines ups or home depot, you have
(36:13):
to build those relationships too. And a bastardor young used
to call it the Atlanta Way. This where government, philanthropic groups,
civic community come together, business community to be able to
get things done. And we've been to beneficiary beneficiaries of that.
So when Killer Mike and Tip served on my transition committee,
(36:36):
I'll never forget we were sitting in the Metro Chamber
of Commerce and you got all these Orchard five hundred CEOs,
and Tip and Killer Mike like watching these CEOs, smitten
that they were in the room like it was priceless.
And in that room, Tip and Killer Mike met a
man named Noel Khalil who was also on the transition committee.
(36:59):
He's since passed. He was a wonderful man, affordable housing
builder Columbia Residential. From that transition committee, they built a
partnership that's now allowed them to put affordable housing on
the West side of Atlanta. It came out of that room.
So that's a responsibility that I felt I had as
a mayor, not just to hear from them, but also
(37:21):
to make sure they were president rooms.
Speaker 4 (37:23):
Put him in position, not just entertaining, that's in position.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
That's it I mean, and it's their influence is huge.
But again also they're bringing up perspective. You know, Killer
Mike very proudly said, like he's an independent, he he
likes Brian Kim. There are things that Killer Mike believes
in that some people may see as as extreme right wing.
(37:51):
You know, I see it just as him being an
independent black man making decisions based on what his value
set is, and.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
Who loves Atlanta and who loves to Georgia and who
was going to talk to office and build whoever's in
office to do what's best for that state.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
Yes, and it's not person base. It's I mean it's
it's not politically based.
Speaker 4 (38:11):
It's people based off the governor about the programs that
he's doing for trade. I don't know if he likes
him personally or not, but I know he likes the programs.
You know that he's been able to have that relationship
with to talk about that's right.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
And again this coalition building. When I was mayor, we
closed this transaction. If you've ever been to Atlanta outside
the Mercedes Bend Stadium, it was called the gulch largest
real estate transaction in the history of the city. Out
of that, we put money towards vocational training. Because Delta
Airlines said, I got ten thousand mechanics, I need train
(38:46):
Home Depot said I need I need some plumbers. True
ist said, I need colders. We put money into this
program to help train people to fill these great jobs.
We were able to create an Affordable Housing trust fund
that's city wide now, so if you got some rising
property taxes, you can go tap into this trust fund
(39:08):
to help pay your property taxes. A child savings account.
All of our public school kindergarteners now have this child
savings account that will follow them through high school. I
couldn't do that just as the leader, just from our
budget and the city. It took all of us being
at the table being able to get it done. And
what a Tip and kill a Mike are very astute
(39:32):
with is understanding the needs of our community. Everybody's not
going to college. Everybody doesn't want to go to college.
Everybody shouldn't go to college, but they still need to
be able to get some training so that when the
unions are saying you can come through our program, we'll
pay you to train forty two dollars an hour and
(39:54):
then you'll have a six figure job coming out. You know,
we have to have people advocating for that.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
That's right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
I got a couple of questions, because I know you
got to go and keeping on schedule. When you look back,
what do you feel was your most misunderstood move as
mayor and what would you want people to know about
the thinking behind it?
Speaker 3 (40:12):
Probably my choosing not to run a second term. Yeah,
that was it, because it didn't make sense to people
because nobody had ever done it. And my poll numbers
were at sixty eight percent, which was exceedingly high for
any urban mayor, so I knew it was very likely
(40:33):
that I would win if I ran again, And I
made the decision not to run, and people thought it
was from a position of weakness, but it was like
one of the most powerful things I've ever done at yourself.
From that, what I learned about myself is that sometimes
you things that you do just won't make sense to
(40:55):
anybody else, and you gotta be okay with that. Also
that in the absence of your narrative, somebody's gonna fill
that void with something. And I tried as best I
could to articulate it to people. Quite frankly, a lot
of it I had to unpack in therapy and why
(41:17):
I chose it, why I chose to make that decision.
But what I do know is had I not made
it based on where I was personally in my family
personally in that season, I wouldn't be ready to step
back in the ring in this season.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
Wow, if you became governor, what's the one change you'd
want people to remember you for, not not just in
Georgia but nationwide.
Speaker 3 (41:42):
The biggest scene right now, the affordability piece is huge.
That's an overarching theme but Medicaid expansion is huge in
our state. We got people dying because they can't get
to a hospital, and I think if we can span
Medicaid immediately, it will change the trajectory of a lot
(42:05):
of communities in our state. And at the end of
the day, I want people to know that I was there,
that their lives were better, their communities were better because
I was there to serve.
Speaker 1 (42:20):
Absolutely, Miss Keisha lands Bottoms. Tell them where to support
your campaign.
Speaker 3 (42:24):
Keisha for Governor dot com. Please go online, follow me,
sign up the volunteer and people say, what can I
do if I'm not in Georgia. Everybody has a cousin
or a friend somewhere in Georgia. Everybody has the checkbook.
We need the resources and we we need the energy
and Keisha bottle of Keisha for Governor k E I
(42:48):
s h a Keisha for Governor dot com.
Speaker 2 (42:51):
Thank you, Miss Bottoms. I appreciate you for stopping by it.
I'll be a stranger, thank you. All right, it's the
breakfast Club.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
Every day, answer the Breakfast Club.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
You're finishing, y'all. Dump
Don't every day up waiting, click your ass up the
breakfast club finish for y'all.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Gum.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Yes, it's the world most dangerous waning to show to
Breakfast Club. CHARLAMAGNEA God, DJ NV, just hilarious, Envy and
just are gone. But ll Kuba Lauren Lrosa is here
and we got Testling figure O sitting in because we
have a very special guest, the former mayor of Atlanta,
and she's running for governor Georgia.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Miss Keisha Lance Bottoms is here.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Good morning, good morning, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Thank you for coming. How do you feel?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
I feel great. It's great to be here. It's I
had a fundbraiser in New York and great to see
you in person.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Absolutely What move made you want to run for governor
Georgia in these crazy times?
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yeah, we we are living. It's like in the twilight
zone right now. So I woke up the day after
the election in November, like so many people, wondering what
it meant for me personally and just for us as
a nation, for Georgia as a state. And I did
a lot of praying, a lot of talking, and then
some more praying, and I decided in season to get
(01:00):
back in the ring. We need strong leadership, and people
are looking to states and to local governments to stand
in the gap because we've got so much craziness and
chaos coming out of DC right now.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
You know, Stacey Abrams ran for governor twice and she
fell short even with massive national attention. What would you
do differently so Georgia, you know, it doesn't be like
oh another almost yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Well, you know, Charlemagne, one of the first national interviews
I did was when I was a candidate for mayor
and you had me on and we did it the
old fashioned way. You go knock on doors, you call people.
Now we've got TikTok and all these other ways that
you have to communicate with people sitting here. I mean,
your audience is massive. We have to cover it all.
(01:47):
And what you do. You look at every election, from
Stacy's elections to the VP being on the ballot in November.
You take what work, you keep it, and then what
didn't work as well, then you fix. And the reality
is this, You know, there is a reason that Georgia
(02:08):
went blue in nineteen and twenty. We've got two state
senators who are two senators from Georgia who are Democrats.
So it's possible. It just hasn't happened yet, but it's
certainly possible.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
You know, a lot of critics say Democrats in Georgia
can't win statewide unless they run more moderate, like would
you play to the center or lean fully into like progressive.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Well, you know, my mom always says, you don't have
to tell the truth once, and the truth the truth is.
I mean, I am a moderate there, you know, you
just standing your truth and what you believe in. And
I believe that there are some policies that work from
the left. There are some policies that may be more conservative,
(02:50):
but at the end of the day, it's about getting
things done. And when I served as mayor, we got
a lot of things done, from adding and preserving seven
thousand units of affordable housing, to get in our city
workers up to a minimum wage of fifteen dollars an
hour because in Georgia it's just over five dollars an
(03:11):
hour to I mean, I can give an entire list
of things that we were able to accomplish, but it
was standing in our truth and what our values were.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
I'm glad you brought that up because you were known
in Atlanta for real standing up for people against the
predatory lending and how the home buyers were getting things
taken and things like that. The homeowners. Can you speak
a little bit about that, well.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Affordable housing was a big push from our administration. And
it's not just an issue in urban areas. It's happening
in rural communities as well. We've been traveling around the state.
It's happening around the country, and you all know it's
people are paying attention to the mayor's race in New York.
Affordability is an issue. So we did focus not just
on affordable housing, but also helping the unbanked. We had
(03:57):
programs that would help people who were under their bank
or couldn't go to traditional institutions to even cash their
checks at the end of the work week, making sure
that we could help build up their credit, making sure
that they had a relationship with the bank. We were
able to do that through the US Conference and mayors.
Financial literacy is so important, whether it's from helping somebody
(04:22):
get a down payment on their first home to helping
to create credit that allows them to even think about
getting their first home. So it's like the approach is layered.
We know that there are a multitude of challenges that
people are facing, but government can and should help address
(04:44):
some of those and sometimes it's in conjunction with the
private sector.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
I want to ask you, forty nine women have been
elected as governor and not one has been a black woman.
When you talk about what hasn't worked and what didn't work,
what are some some of the challenges that you see
that all though successful in Atlanta, which is the black mecca,
how will you, I guess galvanized when you look at
(05:09):
Georgia as a state, which is very different than Atlanta
being I would say it's own, you know, own state
by itself. How are you going to you know, reach
out to those communities that are not interested, you know,
in electing and not just a woman of color of
specifically a black woman. How do you how do you
plan on dealing with those challenges?
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Well, the reality is this, we've never had a woman
an elected governor in Georgia either, and it is about
meeting people where they are. So we've been traveling around
the state. Atlanta is a great place, but I can't
rely just on Atlanta. If I did, if any candidate did,
we wouldn't win. So we've been making Warner Robbins Augusta
(05:48):
will be in Auburny next week. We have been to Savannah,
Chatham County. We're moving around the state talking directly to people.
So I've got this whole list of issues that i
want to focus on. Eliminating state income taxes for our teachers,
we got to teach a shortage, expanding medicaid in our state.
We've got nine rural hospitals who have closed. We have
(06:11):
half our counties who don't have obgyns, don't have pediatricians,
more deaths than births in more than half our counties
in the state. That's unacceptable. So we're moving around talking
to people. I've got my list of issues, but as
I'm hearing from people, I'm adding to that list. And
(06:34):
it's about reaching everybody, black women, black men, brown people,
white people. It's about listening and being willing to course
correct when necessary.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
You know, Republicans in Georgia don't play fedal. You got
voter suppression. Jerry Manderain couturewards like, do you think you
can really outstrategize that you feel like you like kind
of walking into a trap.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
No, We've done it before. I mean, and I know
you all are paying attention to what's happening in Georgia.
Five hundred thousand people have been removed from our voter roles.
There are hearings happening right now in the state where
they're trying to reduce early voting and remove absentee voting.
In this whole list, and when you look at a
place like Georgia where the margins are so thin, it matters.
(07:19):
So you mentioned Stacy Stacy's first race fifty five thousand votes.
She lost by the vice president one hundred thousand votes.
That's not a lot when you have millions of people
showing up to vote. So again, what we got to
do is keep talking to people, get them energized. Listen, listen, listen.
(07:40):
I've got four children, three are teenagers, one is twenty three.
I got to stop clutching my pearls when they say
things I don't agree with, because it's their reality. And
as candidates, it's great that we go up on television
and do all these fancy things. We got to go
into the barbershops, the beauty shops. We got to listen
(08:02):
to people.
Speaker 5 (08:03):
And then act accordingly in the beginning of the interview
of Charlie may ask you like, why now in these
crazy times that I'm hearing you talk about like going
out and doing things. And the first thing I thought of,
especially with you being the first if elected, was uh
Kamala Harris's book, and she talked about, you know, just
a lot of the struggles she went through because as
a black woman, they weren't they didn't know that. Not
only did they not know what to do, it wasn't
built for her, but they didn't support and she dealt
(08:24):
with a lot behind the scenes. I know you you
worked with the Bidy campaign.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
What did you.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Experience then, if I if at all anything that is
preparing you for what you're potentially about to walk into
as first woman black woman governor.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Yeah, I worked in White House, and you can't work
in the White House and sit in that senior meeting
every morning just a few steps from the Oval office
and not be a better leader. You see how things
get done, and it is challenging anytime that you are
the first in the room, but it's also this opportunity.
I would always chuckle to myself when the President would say, Keisha,
(08:59):
what do you think? And I would think. I bet
nobody's ever been asked in the old office, So you know,
they're challenges, but there are also a lot of opportunities
there and a lot of times when we are the first,
it's hardest for us in those spaces, but you're opening
(09:20):
doors so that hopefully you won't be the last and
it won't be as difficult as people coming behind you.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
How do you.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Navigate supporting the president like Biden while still being honest
about what he could have done better and he could
have done better for black communities, because I'm all record
is seeing the now of the Democratic Party and the
future of the Democratic Party, you got to throw that
old regime under the bus. And the VP does a
great job of doing that in her new book.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
I don't know if you read it yet, but no,
I haven't read it yet. But you know, there were
a lot of great things that happened from the Biden
Harris administration that delivered for our communities, and I think
unfortunately right now, just a couple of days ago, I
was speaking with someone about black farmers on all the
strides that had been made in our rural community specifically
(10:05):
to support black farmers. Trump administration's already clawed it back.
So there were a lot of things that were done well,
and I'm very proud of that. Hindsight is always twenty twenty.
You think about things that perhaps could have been done differently,
But at the end of the day, that administration delivered
a lot of wins for our communities. And now we
(10:29):
got to look forward and figure out how do we
keep going, how do we keep building, how do we
keep moving? Even when I talk to you, when I
was running for mayor several years ago, Instagram was this
new thing, this new communications tool that we were using.
We're light years away from that. And if we are stagnant,
(10:51):
then we're not going to progress as a party. But
what I know is this, this democracy that we live
in for now to work and progress, and we've got
to be nimble the Republican Party, you know, I compare
these maga Republicans a broken clock is right twice a day.
(11:11):
They've hit it on messaging, and they've hit it on
the long game, and I think we can learn some
lessons in that.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I guess that's it for me.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Right like Democrats, you know, Democrats couldn't message when they
were winning, right at least on a federal level. So
now that they're losing, what can the party message the people?
And I know, I know it's just a state race,
but you're still representing the Democratic Party.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
So what is the message now?
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Well, I think Charlotte Mane like, we'll be looking at
you all to help us with that too, Like how
do people get their messaging? How do we communicate with people?
We perfected political messaging and ads and all these things
that we've done for decades on end. What we've not
perfected is and I'll just go back to this example.
(11:56):
I remember my now fifteen year old son was like
looking at some NBA something or another on television and
I heard Trump's voice coming through. I'm like, what is
Donald Trump? Like what are you watching? And he's like,
oh yeah, he's on here all the time because he
was talking to our kids when we were still on
(12:16):
cable TV. So I think it's going to take all
of us. It's going to take us thinking differently. You know,
the way that we've traditionally done politics clearly doesn't always work.
It's not always effective. You can still be principled, but
you can still be willing to learn something new. And
(12:40):
that's a challenge. And for me again, I'm listening when
I go into barbershop with my kids. I'm listening when
my son tells me, you know what he did two
three years before the election, we had a problem with
young black men. I'm like no, poland saying x y Z.
(13:01):
He's like, no, y'all got a problem. So I'm learning.
I'm learning to listen.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
You know, you know Keisha a black mother.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
From the start, she said, my son was watching some
NBA something something something.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
I won't go back to when you said a part
of it is leaning on us, And I want to
talk about pressure that a lot of us we put
on you know Democrats as well. I know Charldamain's taking
a lot of heat for it. I've certainly talking a
lot of heat. I want to go back to what
you said about the black farmers. And so, although the
Biden administration did deliver, still pressure had to be put
on the Biden administration to do the right thing. In
(13:35):
twenty twenty two, turning Bedroom Crump pat two foul a
lawsuit against President Biden. So I think it's fair to
say that, yes, the Biden administration delivered. Yes, they certainly
did more than what a previous administration would do or
perhaps what another administration would do. But he also, because
I remember, was he was very conflicted about having to
do that. And so how do we be honest enough
(13:57):
for people to say that, yes, we are putting pressure
on possibly your favorite president or whoever you may like,
in order to get things done. And how can we
be honest about that when we're, you know, doing our
advocacy in the media. Basically, can you respect that that
I may have to say this, ain't it y'all not
doing the right thing because it's traditionally business, well you're
(14:18):
helping Trump or you're helping other side, when that's not it.
We're trying to just actually help the black farmers.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Yeah, And what I'll say is this is we can't
let perfection get in the way of us participating. I'm
not saying that Biden Harris administration was perfect. Clearly it
wasn't perfect. But I'll put the worst day of the
Biden Harris administration up against this Trump administration any day
of the week, because at least I knew we had
(14:45):
a chance. And again, elections are about looking forward. We
want to make sure that when we elect people that
we have a chance to have us see at the table.
I've been inside the White House, so I know he
gets to walk through the door and have those hard conversations.
(15:05):
Sometimes you agree, sometimes you disagree. But as we look
to twenty twenty six, we got to think about do
we want to have a chance again? Do we want
to have a fighting chance? And my concern right now
is at the rate that we are going and the
way our democracy is being unraveled, literally hour by hour,
(15:27):
that if we surrender our right to participate, we're not
gonna have anything to participate in. John Lewis was my congressman.
He represented my district, and I'm often reminded of his words.
Our vote is the most powerful weapon that we have
in a democracy. If we don't use it, we will
(15:50):
lose it. I get that people are frustrated, and people
are choosing the couch. They're not choosing Democrats, they're not
choosing Republicans. They're just disgusted. I ain't going for none
of y'all. And that is the worst thing that we
can do, is to give up and not be a
part of the conversation and not be counted. So no,
(16:13):
no administration gets it all right. The Obama administration didn't
get it all right. The Clinton administration didn't get it
all right, but we at least had a chance to
try again. I don't see that with this Trump administration.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
You know, one thing you did when you was mayor,
you gave raisers for police officers and firefighters and always say,
I feel like, you know, more money should go in
police officers pockets. Right, I feel like, you know, if
you have a higher salary for police officers, you'll get
a higher quality of a person for the job.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Right. Why did you decide to do that.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
We had a retention issue. We were really struggling, and
we were Our officers were leaving, they were coming to
get trained in Atlanta, they were leaving to go to
other surrounding metro area cities and counties because we were
not on par not just locally but nationally as well.
(17:09):
Our firefighters hadn't gotten their money, their appropriate raises in
fifty years. And at the end of the day, it's
you know, whatever your position is on police officers or
public safety in general, you know, it's not just about
calling somebody when there's a crime, When you have a
car accident, when somebody breaks in your car, you got
(17:32):
to have somebody who can come and investigate and then
be able to go show up in court and testify
and do all those things. So it was important, and
you know it was. I didn't get the support of
police officers or firefighters when I ran, but I thought
that it was the right thing to do and it
was the right thing to do for our city.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Did they give you credit after the fake they did?
Speaker 5 (17:55):
They did some of your kids. I know you got
four kids, your wife and some of your kids are older.
I heard you say something help you with like social
media stuff like that, Like how do you balance because
what you do in politics is very demanding. How you
balance It's like life outside of that.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
With everything else that balance for a lot of people.
Yeah yeah, I mean, you know, thankfully, I have an
incredible family that sacrifices more than anybody could possibly understand.
And my therapist said something to me that I keep
in my heart a lot. She said, you were a
(18:32):
strong mayor. I want you to be a powerful governor.
Strong women push through. They have heart attacks, they have strokes,
and they die. She said, powerful women stop, they learned
a lesson and then then only then do they move on.
So for me, it's about balance. So if I have
(18:52):
to if I have to stop what I'm doing and
be balanced when it comes to the needs of my
kids or my family, my husband, that's what I have
to do because that's power. Because when I'm out of sync,
my family's out of sync, my community is out of sync.
So I'm I'm focused on being powerful as a mother,
(19:17):
as a wife, and as a leader, and balance is hard,
but it's a choice.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
It means you think women get that grace though, because
you don't really hear men saying I'm gonna be balanced,
I'm gonna be a mother. Do you think that's why
people have a problem women leader? Yeah, exactly, Like they
don't want a leader that's gonna be balanced. They want
completely off balance and totally focused the inn on that.
So I mean, do you think that plays a part
and why? Yeah, I don't want women leadership.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Life isn't fair. People are gonna always take exception to
what you choose and how you choose. But for me,
I know that I'm a more powerful leader when I'm
balanced than when I take the time to take a
walk or when I take the time to do something
like listen to a book. It makes me stronger, and
it makes me more focus. It makes me a better mother,
(20:09):
makes me a better wife, it makes me a better leader,
and a lot of times, you know, whatever your profession is,
we often don't find that balance and we don't choose
it for ourselves. So we go. You know, I was
strong and I pushed through and then we pass out
somewhere because we've been pushing through, and power is saying
(20:32):
sometimes I got to put me first. You know, we
often hear this metaphor when you're on the plane, you
got to put your oxygen mask on first. Well, that's true,
because if I'm not right, nobody is right in my house.
Speaker 5 (20:48):
What are your therapy as much as you want to share,
what are your therapy sessions? Like, how do you separate
Keisha land Spottoms as the person, the mom, the wife
versus I'm coming here because my job in politics are
putting me in a bad mental space?
Speaker 3 (21:02):
Or do they all come together in therapy? It all
comes together. I love therapy. It's wonderful too. I highly
recommend it too, you know, because you get to unpack
all these things. You know, we live our lives and
we think they're like these segmented spaces in our lives.
But through therapy, what I have found is it's all related.
(21:23):
You bring all that childhood stuff with you, the good,
the bad, the ugly. It comes with you into adulthood,
it comes with you into marriage, it comes with you
into parenthood. Like you bring it all in. If you
don't understand it, sometimes it just doesn't make sense. And
the thing I love about therapy is that it's somebody
(21:45):
who It's not like you're arguing with your spouse, like
you're not taking a position. It's somebody who's neutral and
who's helping you unpack it. My therapist can talk to
me for ten minutes about something I've been talking to
my husband about for ten years, and I'm like, oh, okay,
I understand that. I get it because it's this neutral
(22:07):
person who's trained to help you process and unpack. And
quite frankly, given all of the challenges we're having with
mental health, especially in the black community, like I'm really
proud to speak about it publicly because it is taboo,
and we know people are dealing with PTSD, anxiety, depression
(22:27):
and all these things that we often don't identify or
that we even call a weakness. Sometimes in the black community.
But it's just like if you had high blood pressure diabetes,
we say you need to go see a doctor. Well,
it's the same thing with mental health. If you're struggling,
sometimes you got to go talk to somebody who's a
(22:48):
trained professional who can help you unpack and process.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
You know, you talked about a servant leadership a lot, right, Like,
is it possible for a politician to actually be a
publicier because I always see a lot of people who
were servant leaders right, they were public services, but boy,
when they get into politics, they you know, compromise themselves
real quick.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
Well, one I say, I don't think people, I don't
think you should be a broke politician because you know,
and sometimes people don't have the choice in terms of
their income. But I've seen that sometimes that can be
challenging for people that if you know, you're signing a
stack of contracts like this worth one hundred hundreds of
(23:33):
millions of dollars, for some people, it can't be tempting
to kind of, you know, not be honest brokers out
of necessity or whatever the reasons. I would say, you know,
for a lot of people, we want everybody at the table.
We want representation of a cross section of people. But
what I tell people, especially younger politicians, is you can
(23:57):
have a life after politics. So even if you go
in and your income is not great and you're looking
at these contracts you're signing for people getting millions of
dollars in contracts, then plan for your future. Don't touch
it now, Just plan for your future because at the
end of the day, you're there to serve and you're
(24:18):
there to stay free. And for black politicians especially, we
are often targets and unfortunately sometimes you know it's we
make it too easy to get in trouble.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
So basically, do right by the people when you in
office and get that money. Once you get don do
right by the people.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
The best political advice I got was from a friend
of mine who said, whatever you do, make sure you
can always go home. And what he meant by that
was like when I walk in the grocery store, I'm
not afraid. I can hold my head up high. People
may not agree with me, but I can defend anything
(24:58):
I've done, any decision I've ever made, even if it's
as much as saying I made a mistake, I do
it differently, but I can see I still live in
the same house, same community, I shop in the same store,
like all the things are still the same because when
I left off as I was able to go back home.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
I want to ask your thoughts on because I'll be
honest with you. I'm an independent, I used to be
a Democrat, and I'm gonna be honest the messaging on, well,
at least we have a chance. That don't really land
with me, Like I want the straight you know, we
going in we are taking whatever we can get, which
I get, you know, and I understand your point. But
I'm loving the energy that Governor Newsom is on right now,
(25:40):
and he's been inspiring to a lot of a lot
of people may not agree with his politics. I think
everybody has a role to play politics. Your personality, your personality,
his is his. Do you see him being helpful over
because I know you're running for governor, but the Democrat
Party as a whole bringing the smoke. What have been
your thoughts on him being able to play that at
(26:00):
offense defense, you know, to kind of say things that
maybe other politicians cannot, or to kind of run that play.
How have you been have you been received, have you
been clutching your pearls.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
I love it. I mean, and that's his personality. So
I love it, I think, and people are looking for
people who are authentic and genuine in their leadership. That's
his style, and I mean, I'm here for it. And
what I would say, you know, even with you identifying
as an independent, the respect that I have for that
is that we can't take anybody for granted. And what
(26:36):
I'm saying in this season, people are so much more informed.
And I'm a Delta. I did something with a group
of Deltas and when I tell you, they asked me
the hardest questions of any group that I've been around,
you know, and I was like, wow, okay, and they
were there in support of me, but they want to
(26:58):
like so you know, I'm not taking anybody for granted.
We shouldn't take anybody for granted. I think at the
end of the day, you know, a lot of people
are more not Democrat, not Republican, and more in the
middle than even we self identify as. But going back
(27:21):
to Gavin Newsome, I love what he's doing. I love
that he's owning it. I think that he is brilliant.
I love that it is authentic to him. And I
love that he is meeting the moment. I think the
biggest danger for any of us would be to engage
in ways is that that's not authentic to us because
(27:43):
people see it, and you know, people have a high
BS radar, and if it's not real, people are going
to pick up on that too. It's real for him.
Speaker 5 (27:53):
What if your thoughts been around your safety going back
into office like I.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Know you had, Like you got your security.
Speaker 5 (28:00):
Dind it for some time because the death threat you're
receiving and Trump's in office, and you guys had your
back and forth with the whole resignation thing, where you're thought,
it's just a crazy time. What are your thoughts around that?
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (28:10):
I mean as a person of the faith, I plead
the blood of Jesus over me and my family because
it's real. When I was mayor, I had a lot
of credible threats, including a credible kidnapping threat. I remember
going for a walk one day and a man pulling
(28:31):
up on me saying, Oh, I didn't think it was
gonna be this easy to find you. Thankfully he didn't
mean me harm, but he did find me out walking
by myself. So I'm constantly.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Wow I mean I understand you, you know, enjoy your freedom,
you got faith in God, but why would you.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Be walking by yourself? You still got to protect yourself.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Probably not not the smartest thing to do, but you know,
I left out my door. I went for a walk,
and I didn't think, you know, this man was gonna
drive over from De Camp County and look for me
that day. Now it was it smart, no, but I
mean that was I wanted to walk by myself that day.
And so back in this season, I am mindful of it.
(29:17):
I'm I'm cognizant of it. Anytime I'm speaking before a group,
I find I like I'm looking around, paying attention to
who's moving, who's you know, where's the exit? You know,
layering on security. I mean, it's just it's it's the
nature of the times that we're living, man, and it's, uh,
(29:41):
it is unsettling, but it's our reality.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Do you think that there's an attack on black mars.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
I think there's an attack on black leadership across the board.
I think the attack on black mayors is like, that's
a generational you know, even Ambassador Young was called before
a grand jewelry, you know, so it's yeah, I mean,
(30:14):
I think that's real.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Why do like, why is it why black?
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Why does black mayor leadership get targeted that in that way?
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Well, I mean, so I'll give Atlanta as an example.
The mayor of Atlanta is the CEO of the city.
It's a strong mayor form of government, with over a
billion dollar budget between the airport, the warder department, and
the city's general fund budget actually probably closer to billion dollars.
(30:43):
That's a lot of money and a lot of contracts
that you're signing. So even in Georgia and in Atlanta,
the guy who's the front runner on the Republican side
for governor put forth legislation to take the airport from
the City of Atlanta, to take it, to take it
over because the city runs the airport, because their contracts there.
(31:09):
Some would say it had a large part to do
within helping to build a black middle class in Atlanta.
So anytime you have money involved and you have a
singular black leader who can sign those contracts, who cannot
sign those contracts, it's going to get attention, it's going
(31:32):
to get scrutiny, and it's gonna make you susceptible to investigation.
It's not fair, but that was happening when Maynard Jackson
was the mayor of Atlanta. It happened to Ambassador Young,
I mean it, it happens.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
So basically saying that's where the powers I'm always talking
about local and state. Local and state, that's where the
power is. That's where things get done the most, the
quick as the fastest. And you're saying that the local level,
the mayor's is targeted because of the power that they have.
Talk about a little bit about the governor, because we
love the sex you know how sexity is. Talk about
Congress and president, all of that, but talk about the
(32:08):
power that a governor has that can literally change somebody's
life overnight, opposed to being in Congress where you have
to argue with hundreds of people.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
So when federal money, for example, comes into a state,
it often flows right through the state government through the
governor's office. Governor can determine budgets. The governor can determine
how much we're allocating toward this community as opposed to
that community. The governor of Georgia is one of the
(32:38):
most powerful governors in the nation because they have the
power of a line item veto. So when legislation comes
to the governor. He can scratch out a line and
change it just with the or she will be able
to change it just with the stroke of a pen.
So it matters. You are allocating budget, you are setting priorities,
(33:02):
you are appointing people to boards, whether it's the border
Regions which oversees higher education than the state, to the
Port of Savannah that deals with export and import that's
coming in and out of the state, to infrastructure projects,
to public safety. All of that flows from the governor's office.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
What do you think about People are in Atlanta are
very critical of Copcity.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
How would you address that?
Speaker 3 (33:31):
My concern about that is that when you are not
investing in public safety, that you are getting out what
you are putting in. So with the police training facility,
there were two places that firefighters who were being trained
police were being trained. The place that firefighters were being
(33:55):
trained ended up being condemned because of mold of bad
mone infestation. The place where police were being trained was
like a fifty year old school building. The facilities were
just they were awful, and I believe the prior police
training place was condemned as well. They were awful. I
(34:16):
mean the reality is that they have to be trained somewhere,
and we needed a new facility in Atlanta to train
our police and firefighters, and it was costing us a
lot of money because we didn't have a state of
the art facility. And again going into the morale and
(34:38):
whatever your thoughts are again on public safety. When you
have police officers, when you have firefighters, when you have
people ems, paramedics, they have to be trained somewhere. They
don't just show up and get put out on the street.
And we needed a new facility in Atlanta to do that.
Speaker 4 (35:01):
One of the things I give you credit on I
still like to call you mayor Lands Bottoms of your Mindy,
it's through your title you building in non traditional, non
traditional coalitions. A lot of times people just tap into
hip hop and tap in who they think is cool
for the moment. You've done an excellent job of building relationships,
you know, with Tip and Killer Mike and really understanding
(35:23):
how entertainment and hip hop is a part of Atlanta
culture culture.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
How do you.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Plan on still, you know, building those non traditional coalitions
and how they can benefit you through the State of
Georgia Because a lot of times, like you said, people
just do the hot sauce in my bag, you know,
to say, you know, I'm cool for the moment. You've
really built some authentic relationships. How were you able to
do that and how do you see that benefiting you
in your race?
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Because you got to hear from everybody. And I love Tip,
I love Carolling Mike. Those are my brothers, genuinely, and
I know they bring a voice and a persona that
I'm not gonna always hear in a board room. But
by the same token, I have to build relationships or
have had to build relationships with CEOs. Where there's a
CEO of Delta Airlines ups or home depot, you have
(36:13):
to build those relationships too. And a bastardor young used
to call it the Atlanta Way. This where government, philanthropic groups,
civic community come together, business community to be able to
get things done. And we've been to beneficiary beneficiaries of that.
So when Killer Mike and Tip served on my transition committee,
(36:36):
I'll never forget we were sitting in the Metro Chamber
of Commerce and you got all these Orchard five hundred CEOs,
and Tip and Killer Mike like watching these CEOs, smitten
that they were in the room like it was priceless.
And in that room, Tip and Killer Mike met a
man named Noel Khalil who was also on the transition committee.
(36:59):
He's since passed. He was a wonderful man, affordable housing
builder Columbia Residential. From that transition committee, they built a
partnership that's now allowed them to put affordable housing on
the West side of Atlanta. It came out of that room.
So that's a responsibility that I felt I had as
a mayor, not just to hear from them, but also
(37:21):
to make sure they were president rooms.
Speaker 4 (37:23):
Put him in position, not just entertaining, that's in position.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
That's it I mean, and it's their influence is huge.
But again also they're bringing up perspective. You know, Killer
Mike very proudly said, like he's an independent, he he
likes Brian Kim. There are things that Killer Mike believes
in that some people may see as as extreme right wing.
(37:51):
You know, I see it just as him being an
independent black man making decisions based on what his value
set is, and.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
Who loves Atlanta and who loves to Georgia and who
was going to talk to office and build whoever's in
office to do what's best for that state.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
Yes, and it's not person base. It's I mean it's
it's not politically based.
Speaker 4 (38:11):
It's people based off the governor about the programs that
he's doing for trade. I don't know if he likes
him personally or not, but I know he likes the programs.
You know that he's been able to have that relationship
with to talk about that's right.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
And again this coalition building. When I was mayor, we
closed this transaction. If you've ever been to Atlanta outside
the Mercedes Bend Stadium, it was called the gulch largest
real estate transaction in the history of the city. Out
of that, we put money towards vocational training. Because Delta
Airlines said, I got ten thousand mechanics, I need train
(38:46):
Home Depot said I need I need some plumbers. True
ist said, I need colders. We put money into this
program to help train people to fill these great jobs.
We were able to create an Affordable Housing trust fund
that's city wide now, so if you got some rising
property taxes, you can go tap into this trust fund
(39:08):
to help pay your property taxes. A child savings account.
All of our public school kindergarteners now have this child
savings account that will follow them through high school. I
couldn't do that just as the leader, just from our
budget and the city. It took all of us being
at the table being able to get it done. And
what a Tip and kill a Mike are very astute
(39:32):
with is understanding the needs of our community. Everybody's not
going to college. Everybody doesn't want to go to college.
Everybody shouldn't go to college, but they still need to
be able to get some training so that when the
unions are saying you can come through our program, we'll
pay you to train forty two dollars an hour and
(39:54):
then you'll have a six figure job coming out. You know,
we have to have people advocating for that.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
That's right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
I got a couple of questions, because I know you
got to go and keeping on schedule. When you look back,
what do you feel was your most misunderstood move as
mayor and what would you want people to know about
the thinking behind it?
Speaker 3 (40:12):
Probably my choosing not to run a second term. Yeah,
that was it, because it didn't make sense to people
because nobody had ever done it. And my poll numbers
were at sixty eight percent, which was exceedingly high for
any urban mayor, so I knew it was very likely
(40:33):
that I would win if I ran again, And I
made the decision not to run, and people thought it
was from a position of weakness, but it was like
one of the most powerful things I've ever done at yourself.
From that, what I learned about myself is that sometimes
you things that you do just won't make sense to
(40:55):
anybody else, and you gotta be okay with that. Also
that in the absence of your narrative, somebody's gonna fill
that void with something. And I tried as best I
could to articulate it to people. Quite frankly, a lot
of it I had to unpack in therapy and why
(41:17):
I chose it, why I chose to make that decision.
But what I do know is had I not made
it based on where I was personally in my family
personally in that season, I wouldn't be ready to step
back in the ring in this season.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
Wow, if you became governor, what's the one change you'd
want people to remember you for, not not just in
Georgia but nationwide.
Speaker 3 (41:42):
The biggest scene right now, the affordability piece is huge.
That's an overarching theme but Medicaid expansion is huge in
our state. We got people dying because they can't get
to a hospital, and I think if we can span
Medicaid immediately, it will change the trajectory of a lot
(42:05):
of communities in our state. And at the end of
the day, I want people to know that I was there,
that their lives were better, their communities were better because
I was there to serve.
Speaker 1 (42:20):
Absolutely, Miss Keisha lands Bottoms. Tell them where to support
your campaign.
Speaker 3 (42:24):
Keisha for Governor dot com. Please go online, follow me,
sign up the volunteer and people say, what can I
do if I'm not in Georgia. Everybody has a cousin
or a friend somewhere in Georgia. Everybody has the checkbook.
We need the resources and we we need the energy
and Keisha bottle of Keisha for Governor k E I
(42:48):
s h a Keisha for Governor dot com.
Speaker 2 (42:51):
Thank you, Miss Bottoms. I appreciate you for stopping by it.
I'll be a stranger, thank you. All right, it's the
breakfast Club.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
Every day, answer the Breakfast Club.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
You're finishing, y'all. Dump
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